Ken McGoogan takes the reader on a compelling journey through the lives of 50 accomplished Canadians born in the 20th century who have changed - and often continue to change - the great wide world.

McGoogan profiles an astonishing array of activists, humanitarians, musicians, writers, comedians, visionaries, scientists and inventors, all of them transformative figures who have made an impact internationally. From Jane Jacobs, Deepa Mehta, Marshall McLuhan, Stephen Lewis and Romeo Dallaire to Samantha Nutt, David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood, Oscar Peterson, Leonard Cohen and forty others, McGoogan shows us why and how Canadians have made their mark globally as initiators and agents of progressive change.